Archives for August 2017

The family court divorce case of Kichcha Sudeep & Priya has been withdrawn. The difference of opinion between the 2 has been sorted out. Kichcha Sudeep’s lawyer Babu submitted the signed papers of Sudeep & Priya to the Family Court. And the court has accepted it. In the year 2015 a divorce case was filed in family court. In 2001 they got married and were blessed with a girl child Sanvi. Crazy star V Ravichandran had done his on screen work for Kichcha Sudeep in real life too. As brother & father in Manikya & Hebbuli Kannada films V Ravichandran extended the right advice to Kichcha Sudeep in his personal life. The good advice from senior actor V Ravichandran was respected by Kichcha Sudeep. In the eyes of people Kichcha Sudeep has a solid position today and reversing his decision & living with his wife Priya & daughter Sanvi is welcomed by his fans.

Kumari Aishwarya To Share Screen Space With Priyanka

The cute & the sweet little daughter of star couple Upendra & Priyanka namely Kumari Aishwarya is all set to share the celluloid silve screen space with mother Priyanka in Howra Bridge under the direction of Mummy…Save Me super hit film director Lohith. This bilingual film is being made in Kannada & Tamil languages. Aishwarya Upendra got many offers her cute looks in the past. But the star couple did not agree for it. This film Howrah Bridge all set for shooting in West Bengal, has a few days of call sheet for Aishwarya Upendra and she will be with her mother Priyanka Upendra, so the nod was given for her debut on screen.

Puneeth Anjaniputra Is Back

The “Raajakumar” of Kannada cinema power star Puneeth Rajakumar’s latest in the production stage Anjaniputhra in the direction of ace dance director & director A Harsha has completed a schedule in Scotland. Songs featuring Puneeth Rajakumar & Rashmika Mandanna were captured. A few days of shoot at Rajasthan was also held for this film. According to A Harsha 80% of shooting has been completed and in 25 days shoot the film moves to post production. It is a remake of Poojai Tamil film. Ramyakrishna is back to Kannada Cinema with a strong name after Baahubali. Sadhu Kokila, Chikkanna, Mukesh Rishi, Ravishanker and others are in the cast. Top actress Haripriya has stepped in for a song in this film with Puneeth Rajakumar, MN Kumar a big name in the industry in all 3 sectors of production, distribution & exhibition is producing this film. Ravi Basrur’s music & Swamy’s cinematography are part of the main technical team.

So Who Will Direct Mammootty!!!

A biopic on the legendary Naval chief of the erstwhile Zamorin of Calicut, Kunjali Marakkar, has been announced some years back. Mammootty has been decided to play Kunjali Marakkar and it was earlier heard that Amal Neerad will be the director. But in a recent interview, Amal Neerad has made it clear that he is not directing the movie. One of the prominent names rumored to be directing Kunjali Marakkar is ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan. He has directed Ananthabhadram & Urumi in Malayalam. However, there has been no official announcements on this news as yet. Writer T P Rajeevan, who wrote Paleri Manikyam is said to be busy penning the script.

Dileep Denied Bail

Arrested Malayalam hero Dileep has been denied bail by the Kerala High Court on 29th Aug, 20179. Dileep will continue to be in Aluva sub jail. Dileep was arrested in connection with the case in which a prominent Mollywood actress was molested. The prosecution alleged that Dileep is a King Liar (incidentally the title of one of his films) and has definite links with the key accused Pulsar Suni. The High Court had denied bail earlier too to the actor. The High Court judgment has reportedly mentioned that there are evidences against Dileep. The actor has been in jail for 50 days now.

Nivin Pauly Names His Baby Girl

Nivin Pauly & his wife Rinna welcomed their 2nd baby on 25th May this year. The proud father has now named his little angel, Rose Treesa Nivin Pauly. The photos from the baptism function have gone viral on social media. However, the baby’s face is not revealed in the pics. Celebrities including Kunchacko Boban & Suraj Venjaramoodu were present at the ceremony. Nivin Pauly & Rinna married in 2010 & also have a son, Daveed Pauly who is 5 years old now. On the work front, Nivin is awaiting the release of Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela directed by Althaf.

Mohanlal’s Odiyan’s Release Date Locked!!!

Mohanlal’s Odiyan has already created a lot of expectations with the motion poster that went viral last month.The shooting of the movie directed by V A Shrikumar Menon, has started rolling in Varanasi recently, as the title character Odiyan Manickan was in Banaras for 15 years before he returned to Thenkurissi, a village in Kerala. The Odiyan team has also locked the release date, as 30th Mar, 2018. As the film is touted to have brilliant action scenes as well as extensive special effects, the team has opted for a delay in the release date. In the movie, Mohanlal plays the last surviving member of a tribal community called Odiyan in Kerala. Mohanlal will be seen in the role of Manikyan, a man who is mastered in Odividya and will be featured in the age of 30 to 65 in multiple looks. As the character demands tremendous flexibility & agility, Mohanlal will be shedding close to 15 kilos, to attain the movie’s 1st look avatar. Odiyan will have Manju Warrier in the female lead along with Prakash Raj & Sathyaraj in important roles. While art director Prasanth Madhav will also be recreating Thenkurissi village for the shooting, renowned fight master Peter Hein will be choreographing the action sequences. Previously, Peter Hein has choreographed action sequences for Mohanlal in the blockbuster film Pulimurugan and he has also worked in upcoming film Villain.

It’s A Wrap Up For Punyalan Private Limited

As audiences are eagerly awaiting the sequel to Jayasurya – Ranjith Sankar’s Punyalan Agarbathis titled Punyalan Private Limited, the director shared a happy news with the fans. Ranjith Sankar recently posted that the team has wrapped up the shoot of the film, and is expected to release on 17th Nov, 2017. “Every film is a result of team work..But this one was truly special. A superb team worked like magic to can probably my most demanding script !!! An experience I will cherish for the reinforcement that such results can be possible if a group of talented people come together passionately believing in it. Even the nature, the system & the fortune stands by you then!!! Excited to see this on screen. Hope it entertains you all!! On 17th Nov, 2017,” wrote Ranjith Sankar. Punyalan Agarbathis, the 2013 release is a socio -political satire, about a Thrissur based young entrepreneur Joy Thakkolkaran, who tries hard to succeed in his business of incense sticks. Punyalan Private Limited will be a continuation of the 1st part and will start from where Punyalan Agarbathis ended. The movie’s female lead will be played by Pretham fame Shruthi Ramachandran. The actress will be playing the character, wife of Joy Thakkolkkaran (Jayasurya). Surprisingly Nyla Usha, who played the female lead in the prequel, will not be part of the film this time. Shruthi will be playing a prominent role and will not reprise Nyla’s role in the film. The new project will also be produced by Jayasurya & Ranjith Sankar under the banner of Dreams N Beyond.

Vinay Forrt’s Next Movie Is Nonsense

Flitting from one project to the other, actor Vinay Forrt is all busy post the grand success of Premam. The versatile actor has signed yet another new project. Vinay took to his Facebook wall to announce his next titled Nonsense directed by debutante M C Jithin. The actor plays a prominent character in the movie which will start rolling on 1st Sept, 2017. He writes, “It is with great joy that I share this news of my very next project. Titled NONSENSE, this film marks the directorial debut of M C Jithin whom I believe to be a very talented director in the making. Under the production of our very own Johnny Sagarika, a brilliant entrepreneur & a fellow film enthusiast and to point out that we have an amazing team of young & passionate people working on & off screen. I play a prominent character in this film and the screenplay is what got me excited to be a part of it and even more exciting is that the shoot has already started. I have great expectations on this film and I hope I have all your love & support as you have in the past. Thank you.”

Rawalpindi: A Pakistan anti-terrorism court has declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder trial, ordering his property confiscated, a court official said Thursday.

Musharraf was charged with Bhutto’s 2007 assassination in 2013 but has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The official said he had “absconded”.

The court also acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to murder Bhutto, the Muslim world’s first female prime minister, the official said. However it found two police officers guilty of “mishandling the crime scene”, the court official said, adding they had each been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 rupees (INR 300,904.68).

The verdicts are the first to be issued in the case and come nearly 10 years after Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi. Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, a UN report accused Musharraf’s government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented.

Mumbai: As much as 99 per cent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system, RBI said Wednesday, prompting opposition to question the efficacy of the government’s unprecedented note ban decision to curb black money and corruption.

The Reserve Bank, which has so far shied away from disclosing the actual number of junked currency deposited after November 8 last year, said in its Annual Report for 2016-17 that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency had come back into the banking system, leaving only Rs 16,050 crore out.

As on November 8, 2016 there were 1,716.5 crore pieces of Rs 500 and 685.8 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 in circulation, totalling Rs 15.44 lakh crore.

Post-demonetisation RBI spent Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17 on printing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 and other denomination notes, more than double the Rs 3,421 crore spent in the previous year.

The demonetisation was hailed as a step that would curb black money, corruption and check counterfeit currency but RBI said just 7.1 pieces of Rs 500 note per million in circulation and 19.1 pieces of Rs 1,000 notes per million in circulation were found to be fake in its sample survey.

Opposition was quick to seize on the data to attack the government with former finance minister P Chidambaram saying, “RBI ‘gained’ Rs 16000 crore, but ‘lost’ Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize.”

“Rs 16,000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 15,44,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1 per cent. Shame on RBI which ‘recommended’ demonetisation,” he tweeted.

Chidambaram also wondered if demonetisation was “a scheme designed to convert black money into white?”.

Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said his party would move a privilege motion against RBI Governor Urjit Patel for misleading a parliamentary panel on the issue.

RBI said just 8.9 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 notes or 1.3 per cent of the scrapped ones have not returned. It, however, did not give a specific number for the old 500 rupee notes.

“Subject to future corrections based on verification process when completed, the estimated value of specified bank notes (SBNs) received as on June 30, 2017 is Rs 15.28 trillion,” the central bank said.

After the note ban, old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny.

A collateral damage as a result of rise in printing and other cost was dividend RBI pays to the government.

RBI said its income for 2016-17 decreased by 23.56 per cent while expenditure jumped 107.84 per cent.

“The year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 306.59 billion as against Rs 658.76 billion in the previous year, representing a decline of 53.46 per cent,” it said.

The government replaced old Rs 500 notes with new ones, but no replacement for Rs 1,000 notes have been made. Instead, a new Rs 2,000 note was introduced post note ban.

RBI said there are as many 588.2 crore of Rs 500 notes, both old and new in circulation as of March 31, 2017. As of March 31, 2016, there were 1,570.7 crore Rs 500 notes in circulation.

As many as 328.5 crore pieces of new Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation as on March 31, 2017.

Besides, new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, the RBI has also circulated new Rs 200 notes last week.

Former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi said demonetisation will have long-term impact.

Expectations of various quarters that sizable portion of the demonetised currency won’t return has not been fulfilled.

Mecca: More than two million Muslims from around the world began the Haj pilgrimage at Islam’s holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and an epic multi-stage journey.

This year sees pilgrims from Shiite Iran return to Mecca in Saudi Arabia after a hiatus following a diplomatic spat between the regional rivals and a deadly stampede in 2015.

It also comes with the Gulf mired in a major political crisis that has seen thousands of faithful who would usually make the journey from neighbouring Qatar stay away.

On the esplanade of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the excitement was palpable as crowds from all four corners of the world gathered for a pilgrimage that all able Muslims are required to perform at least once in their lives.

Tidjani Traore, a public service consultant from Benin, said he was on his 22nd pilgrimage at the age of 53.

“Every time, there are new emotions,” he said. “There are new innovations for organising and hosting the pilgrims. Now, for example, the tents are air-conditioned.”

Wearing the simple garb of the pilgrim, the faithful waited at dawn with their suitcases for buses to take them to Mina five kilometres (three miles) to the east.

There, hundreds of thousands will gather before setting off tomorrow at dawn to climb Mount Arafat, the pinnacle of the Haj.

First, however, they must perform a ritual walk known as the tawaf seven times around the Kaaba, a black masonry cube wrapped in a heavy silk cloth embroidered in gold with Koranic verses at the centre of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.

The shrine is the point towards which Muslims around the world pray.

“I still have to finish the tawaf!” said a breathless Nour, 30, from Saudi Arabia as she rushed past without stopping.

Sitting on a folding chair in the middle of the esplanade, Risvana cradled her six-month-old baby who is accompanying her on the pilgrimage.

“I’ve planned everything for him,” said the young mother, pointing to a bottle of water in her bag.

Saudi authorities have mobilised vast resources including more than 100,000 security personnel to avoid a repeat of the stampede in 2015 in which nearly 2,300 people were killed.

Iran alone reported 464 deaths — the highest toll among foreigners.

Riyadh and Tehran cut ties months later, after the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia sparked attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

Iranian pilgrims were absent from last year’s Haj for the first time in decades after the regional rivals failed to agree on security and logistics.

This year’s pilgrimage comes amid a diplomatic crisis between a Saudi-led bloc of Arab countries and Qatar, accused of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Riyadh’s arch-rival Tehran.

A blockade imposed on Qatar since June 5 has seen sea and air links shut down, preventing many Qataris from making the Haj.

Although Saudi Arabia relaxed entry restrictions across its land border with the emirate two weeks before the Haj, Qatar said only a few dozen of its nationals were able to join the pilgrimage.

This year the colossal religious gathering comes with the Islamic State group under growing pressure having lost swathes of territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria

But the jihadist group continues to claim attacks in the Middle East and Europe.

On the esplanade of the Grand Mosque, Saudi authorities had placed misting fans to take the edge off the intense heat.

On the eve of the first rites of the pilgrimage, the walkways thronged with people and the smell of musk wafted through the air.

Bengaluru: Our city’s largest acclaimed festival is now celebrating its 10th year and epitomizing “Celebration of Harmony through Arts”. Thought provoking and well curetted art presentations by artists from both India and abroad have been the benchmark of BIAF for 9 years.

Internationally acclaimed artists are featured in BIAF every year. The last nine successive years have been successful and in each year we have had a minimum of 8 venues and the event spread over 9 days. About 1500 artists have been showcased at BIAF. During the press conference on 31st August 2017 at the Press Club this happy information was shared by the directors of Festival Dr.Suma Sudhindra & Dr.Veena Murthy Vijay.

The 10th year festival of art & culture is being presented at various different venues to reach out every connoisseur. We are featuring the program at various auditoriums spread across the city and also at places like park, malls etc. All these performances will run through 11 days and at 10 different venues.

We are presenting Music and dance troupes from countries like Mexico, Isreal, Serbia, U.K. Austria, Netherland, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Belgium, Malaysia by collaborating with the respective cultural departments of those countries. In addition folk groups are coming from Odissa, Telangana, Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkand, Manipur and an international group from Rwanda.

For Fitness awareness we are dedicating one morning session for Yoga to reach out to Fitness freaks and also to the un initiated.

On the first day of the festival on Sept 6th 2017, after a brief inauguration formality the activity will unfold at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat Open Air Auditorium situated at Kumara Krupa Road Bengaluru.

There will be a Sufi & Ghazal concert under the full moon light with stars over looking, followed by the traditional popular Rajasthan folk music program from Manganiyars. Entry for these events is through donor passes. An additional attraction at the venue is a food stall exclusively serving organic cuisine.

“BIAF was conceived & envisaged keeping in mind the need for an International flavor to the Arts Festival in our country. Our endeavor is to showcase world class performances from legendary artists to the generation next. Over the last nine years we have built this large scale festival, which is recognized as one of the top annual global festivals today. Artists from over 25 countries have performed at our festival. Harmony through Arts has been our objective and we hope to continue to carry this message across, especially in these turbulent times. The support of the people of Bengaluru is vital to keep festivals like BIAF alive and there have been magnanimous all these years and I once again take this opportunity to invite the citizens of our city to come & enjoy the wonderful artists from across the globe over the next three weekends. Your support is invaluable to us.” added Dr. Suma Sudhindra – Director of BIAF.

Dr. Veena Murthy Vijay, Director of BIAF, says It’s hard to sustain a large festival for so many years and we have been successfully conducting this year after year. For this we thank Ministry of Culture and other corporates that have had faith in us and have continued to sponsor all these years. “The power of the arts which brings harmony and sustains of our ancient culture across the world has inspired us to conduct Bengaluru International Arts Festival continuously, establishing BIAF as an annual global festival for the 10th year with true international standards”

About AIM
AIM is headed by Dr. Suma Sudhindra and Dr. Veena Murthy Vijay. With their vision to establish a sustainable large international arts festival in Bengaluru, the duo have conceived, curetted and successfully hosted the past 9 editions of the BIAF.

The 10th year of BIAF is a valuable addition to International arts festivals in the cultural map of India. Other than the directors mentioned above AIM consists of an organising team with progressive open attitude to arts and they have built up a rich treasure of culture documentation for many years. Other than providing a value added platform to artists, they also reach different localities of Bengaluru to spread fine arts.

Their “GO GREEN” campaign is one of the social awareness program trying to improve the garden city’s environment and limit pollution levels.

Sekigahara, the Masato Harada directed epic about the battle that in 1,600 changed the course of Japanese history, debuted atop the Japanese Box – Office turnstiles for 26th Aug, 2017 & 27th Aug, 2017 weekend. Bowing on 360 screens with Toho & Asmik Ace co – distributing, the film earned $3.6 million on 312,000 admissions. Starring Koji Yakusho & Junichi Okada as opposing generals in the battle, Sekigahara is expected to finish with some $30 million. 2nd highest ranking among new chart entries, at #2 in earnings, was Warner’s new release; Wonder Woman opened on 596 screens, & claimed 2nd spot by earnings, with $2.4 million on 182,000 admissions. In 3 days it took $3.4 million, drawing the sort of young female fans who seldom show at Hollywood comic book films. Holding onto the #2 slot in terms of admissions, the preferred chart system in Japan, was Despicable Me 3. It recorded $2.1 million on 188,000 admissions. Now in its 6th week, with Toho – Towa distributing, the film has a cumulative total of $57 million, a record for an Illumination film in Japan.

KOREA
V.I.P. WINS WEEKEND

Warner Bros.’ 3rd Korean language production, V.I.P. debuted on top of the South Korean Box – Office turnstiles. The Park Hoon – jung movie opened on Wed & earned $6.87 million from 940,000 admissions over 5 days. Starring Jang Dong – Gun, the crime drama involves the son of a high ranking North Korean official who is suspected of committing serial murders & agents that chase after him. Previous winner, A Taxi Driver slipped to 2nd, earning $3.87 million between Fri & Sun. The Showbox movie has earned a total of $80.1 million from 11.4 million admissions since its 2nd Aug, 2017 release. That makes A Taxi Driver the 11th biggest release of all time in South Korea, beating Haeundae, The Host & King And The Clown. The top 2 films accounted for 46% of the total weekend Box – Office turnstiles record. 2 other Korean releases, Lotte Entertainment’s Midnight Runners & Next Entertainment World’s horror The Mimic took 3rd & 4th place, respectively. Midnight Runners earned $3.77 million between Fri & Sun for a total of $34.1 million after 3 weekends. Mimic earned $1.75 million between Fri & Sun for a total of $7.95 million after 2 weekends. Dropping 71%, War ForThe Planet Of The Apes slipped to 5th. The Fox release earned $1.51 million between Fri & Sun to extend its total to $14.3 million after 2 weekends.

“VALERIAN” WINS QUIET WEEKEND

The return of Western movies to Chinese cinemas after a month of absence was an anticlimax. The top 10 films earned a combined $76.7 million, making it only the 20th best weekend of the year to date. Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets became the film to finally depose Wolf Warriors II after an unprecedented run Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets opened as the top film with a creditable $28.8 million, according to data from Ent Group. That total was earned on close to 80,000 screenings per day. And it included $3 million from 431 IMAX screens. Prior to this weekend, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets had a $132 million global cumulative total. So the additional Chinese score will give it some comfort. But it may not last long. Next weekend, Dunkirk will enjoy a wide opening and take all its IMAX theaters. Wolf Warriors II, in its 5th week on release was 2nd over the weekend with $15.8 million. That extended its all -time China Box – Office turnstiles record to $810 million. After the end of the blackout period in which revenue – sharing releases of new Hollywood films are not permitted, the weekend saw 2 more. Disney’s Cars 3 drove in for a $10.6 million weekend, earned from a 4th place score on Fri, and an improvement to 3rd on Sat & Sun. It played on around 42,000 screenings per day. Baby Driver, edited by the censors, was initially given 67,000 screenings, but that total was trimmed by 10,000 screenings on each of the following days, and its score slipstreamed. It finished the weekend with $9.93 million.

Mumbai: At least 10 persons were killed and another 20 injured when a six-storeyed old residential building collapsed near J.J. Hospital here on Thursday, an official said.

Another 60 people are still feared trapped under the debris of Huseini Building, which came crashing down with a huge booming sound around 8.25 a.m.

War-like efforts were on to rescue those trapped, a BMC Disaster Control official said, adding the death toll could increase.

Twenty persons were rescued from the rubble within three hours of the incident, he added.

The building is situated in a heavily congested locality of south Mumbai’s C Ward, and rescue teams with their big vehicles and heavy equipment faced a tough time approaching the crash site.

The injured, that included two firemen, were rushed to hospital.

According to a woman, the building also housed a nursery-cum-playschool. The playschool was scheduled to open at 10 a.m., two hours after the building collapse.

Local residents, mainly Dawoodi Bohra community members and others, initiated their own manual rescue efforts, moving the rubble with their hands to help the victims.

A 90-strong team of NDRF, State disaster management, a 150-strong team of fire brigade personnel and workers, two sniffer dog squads, electronic gadgetry along with five fire engines, two JCBs, one crane and other machines were deployed to rescue the people buried under the massive heap of rubble.

A BMC bulletin at noon said the structure included an uninhabited godown on the ground floor and total 10 tenements on the remaining upper floors.

It added that the building – a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) cessed structure – was part of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) redevelopment project, and declared unsafe for living at least six years ago.

“The dangerous building was served evacuation notice in 2011 and the occupants ordered to vacate it to make way for the SBUT redevelopment project, but they failed to heed the warnings,” said a BMC official.

According to the Fire Brigade, the building’s two wings have completely collapsed. The cause of the crash is being probed.

This is the first major building collapse after Tuesday’s deluge in Mumbai, and the second in five days after the Chandivali Crystal Business Park crash on August 26, that claimed six lives.

Dhaka: The bodies of 20 Rohingya refugees, including children, were recovered from Naf River on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border after their boat capsized while they were fleeing violence in Myanmar that has forced at least 18,500 Rohingyas to seek refuge across the border.

An official said the boat carrying the Rohingyas was attempting to cross the border into Bangladesh in the Shahparirdwip area when it capsized on Wednesday night. Locals recovered the bodies from the river in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf on Thursday and handed them over to police, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Six bodies were found on Wednesday night and 14 more were recovered from the Bangladesh coast in the morning,” said Chailau Marma, Additional Superintendent of Police in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.

Bangladesh security forces also detained 75 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, when they were trying to cross the border into Bangladesh, Bbnews24.com said.

The cause of the accident is under probe.

“We’re yet to find a survivor to know what exactly happened at the time and how many Rohingya people were on board the boat which it capsized in Naf River dividing Bangladesh and Myanmar,” said a police official.

The boat reportedly anchored near the Shah Porir Island of Bay of Bengal for a couple of days as the Bangladesh forces did not allow them to enter Bangladesh territory.

The International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday that over 18,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar’s western Rakhine state amid a fresh wave of violence in the region since August 25.

According to reports, thousands of Rohingyas from Myanmar, mostly women, children and elderly people, were still waiting in no-man’s land along Bangladesh’s southeastern Naikhyangchhari border to enter Bangladesh territory.

Bangladesh, which shares about 271 km of border with Myanmar, has refused repeated local and foreign appeals to accept Rohingyas fleeing the coordinated rebel attacks on Myanmar border posts in which 100 people, including 80 insurgents and 12 members of the security forces, have been killed.